Human Gut Reveals How We Can Tackle Resistance to Antibiotics, According to New Study

A report reveals that a staggering 70% of the world’s bacteria have developed resistance to antibiotics, rendering the drugs largely ineffective.

Antibiotics, which have been instrumental in extending life expectancy and saving countless lives since their discovery by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928, have now become ubiquitous in our environment, with widespread use in both human and animal medicine, agriculture, and even marine paint.

This overuse has led to the evolution of super-resistant bacteria, which claim more than 35,000 lives in the US alone each year.

However, UCF scientist Dr. Salvador Almagro-Moreno’s research on the roots of antibiotic resistance may offer hope in the fight against these resistant infections by allowing researchers to better understand and develop new therapeutics.

According to a recent article published in PLoS Genetics, Dr. Salvador Almagro-Moreno, a microbiologist at UCF College of Medicine, has made a breakthrough in identifying the evolutionary origins of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria.

His research, which focuses on Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera, has provided valuable insights into the conditions that are necessary for infectious agents to develop resistance.

“How AMR [antimicrobial aesistance] occurs in bacterial populations and the pathways leading to these new traits are still poorly understood,” he commented. “This poses a major public health threat as antimicrobial resistance is on the rise.“

Through studying genetic variants of the bacterial membrane protein OmpU, the team utilized molecular and computational approaches to discover several OmpU mutations in cholera bacteria that resulted in resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents.

This included antimicrobial peptides that serve as a line of defense in the human gut. In contrast, other OmpU variants did not possess these qualities, rendering the protein an ideal system for understanding the specific processes responsible for the development of antimicrobial resistance in certain bacteria.

By comparing resistant and antibiotic-sensitive variants, the researchers were able to pinpoint specific regions of OmpU that are associated with the emergence of antibiotic resistance.

Additionally, they found that the genetic material encoding these variants, along with their associated traits, can be transferred between bacterial cells, heightening the risk of the spread of antimicrobial resistance in populations that are under antibiotic pressure.

The findings may assist in the better understanding and development of therapeutics to combat resistant infections by uncovering the mechanisms by which mutations occur. In addition to this, he is also examining environmental factors, such as pollution and ocean warming, as possible contributors to the emergence of resistant bacteria.

“We are studying the genetic diversity of environmental populations, including coastal Florida isolates, to develop a new approach to understanding how antimicrobial resistance evolves,” the author added.

Cholera, an acute diarrheal illness caused by a specific type of bacteria and typically linked to contaminated water and food, has significant global implications. With up to 4 million individuals worldwide affected by the disease, severe cases can result in fatalities within mere hours.

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